While Woody Allen has gathered up his Hollywood cast for his upcoming Rome-set film “The Wrong Picture,” with Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page, Alec Baldwin and Penelope Cruz set to star, he still has his Italian talent to cast and he’s going right to the top of list.

While it’s not yet confirmed, Deadline reports that none other than comic star Roberto Benigni is expected to take a role in the film. It’s been a long, long time since we’ve seen the rubber-faced, childlike and effusive actor on screen. He swept through Hollywood with “Life Is Beautiful” — leading to one of the most memorable Oscar show moments ever — but quickly faltered with the egregious “Pinocchio” which sent him packing. He followed that up with “The Tiger And The Snow” which nobody saw and barely got distributed. Ever since, he’s mostly focused on his stand up in his native land as well his celebrated recitations of Dante‘s “Divine Comedy.”

Of course, there’s no word on how large or small his role will be, but with Woody Allen already confirming that he’ll have a small role the possibility of these two (very different) giants of comedy sharing screen time is tremendously exciting. More is expected to be announced next week when Allen rolls into Cannes with “Midnight In Paris” so stay tuned.

Zhao said with her Bass Reeves biopic, she’ll direct a more traditional cast like she did with her first-timers: “You can work with an actor in a certain way, you can create an environment like Terrence Malick has always done.”